Thursday, December 17, 2009

It’s good to be back on the blogosphere :) After a real big hiatus, I should say. Almost after 6 months. I am back now and good to start all over again !!! There’s so much I wanted to write about which I eventually dint do. So here’s a sum up of all that happened in 2009, all that I would like to recollect, rewind, look back and cherish.

My year started in the blogosphere. Yes, I launched this blog page in Jan 2009, with a hope of posting as many blogs as possible. But I din do justice to my page, which am hoping to balance out this year with more blogs and updates :) U can always hope for better things u know, never gonna cost much :)

I was conferred with the ACE award (this was in the month of Feb) at my workplace which is supposed to be an excellence award, to recognize and reward outstanding contribution to the project every quarter. But reward and recognition was never a term known to my project management, as far as I know. It was usually done like a roll call and this month seemed to be my turn and there it was all mine. There were so many times I remember contributing some quality work to the project earlier but the awards for those quarters were given to someone else who were sitting atop the list for many years without the ACE, so it had to be theirs according to the law !!! Some things never change and can’t be changed and so was this reward system. Anyways so that’s an important event of the year ladies and gentlemen. The ACEd month of the year !!!!

The one thing that I always loved about my work place was that it was really close to my house. I want you guys to get a picture of how close it was. My apartment was right behind my office building. No kidding here. The only thing that was separating my apartment from my office was that huge compound wall. They were adjacent buildings. There were so many times when I had waved Hi to my mom (who will be in the kitchen) from my office parking lot. I used to have my morning coffee at my balcony waving at Raji and Soundariya (the early birds of our team) seeing them park their bikes :) It was jus a minute’s walk from home to office. What more do you want in life. While I was enjoying this luxury, I got the saddest news in the last 3 yrs. My office was shifted from the busy GN chetty road to the deserted SEZ in Siruseri. There was no more walking to office, there was no more afternoon naps at home when there is literally no work, there was no more sneaking out of office for a just-like-that shopping in pondy bazaar, there was no more going back to home to get the Swipe card/Mobile/Wallet that I had forgotten to take, most of all, there was no more going home for that nice hot mommy’s lunch !!! My team mates were so very happy, not because the office is being shifted to some far off-out the city location but because I had to TRAVEL(Give the word a little more stress) to office like all of them!!! I was blessed with such lovely team mates, after all :)

Waking up at 6 o clock in the morning to catch the office bus at 7 became an adventure sport to me. But thank god for giving me two responsible friends Alex and Govind. They were always there to hold the bus for me whenever I was late. And it’s a record that I hadn’t missed my bus even once. Things became really hectic and monotonous. I hadn’t had a proper vacation in years then. Suddenly the idea of taking the family to an overseas holiday trip struck my dad. He always wanted to take his girls on a foreign trip before he handed them over to someone :) And so we were headed for a week’s trip to Singapore and Malaysia. Ahhhh... It was such a welcome break from work. Lovely trip it was Which added another memorable page to the book of my memories.

2009 seemed to be the year of the knots. Yes I am talking about the nupital wedding knot. Many of my friends got engaged or married in 2009. So it sorta increased my parents’ blood pressure too. My horoscope took trips through so many astrologers and so-called Nice boys’ families. Fortunately or unfortunately Mr Guru was favoring me then it seems and so my dad was so ambitious in getting me married by 2009. He was a focused man, I know. I was a lucky girl, you know!!! So yes, I got married to this lovely person called Raj in November 2009. To more about how it all started and how we got connected to each other please visit http://www.mywedding.com/sukanyaandbakiaraj/ :)

After my wedding I had to relocate to the US of A, where my husband works. So I had to quit my dear first job. My workplace was like my second home. I have had so many memorable moments there. Late night slogging, Coffee break gossips, Friday lunch outs, first onsite trip, pointless team meetings, even pointless appraisal meetings, what-are-they-talking-about CEO open houses, the intra-DC Anthakshari/Rangoli competitions, the inter-corporate throwball matches, the Chennai Marathon run, the 2 month German training and the list is endless. I had made some real friends for life. It was naturally tough and difficult to leave all of them but I was even more excited to step into the next phase of my life. So there I was, giving a pause to my career and moving ahead to step into my wedded life.

More posts on my new life coming soon... :)Overall, it was a lovely year for me !!! Was a happy good 2009 !!! :) :)

Saturday, July 4, 2009

A few days back I was off to Karur to attend a friend’s wedding. I was not new to Karur as I’d been there to spend so many vacations at my aunt’s place. This time it was just a weekend trip. But I somehow felt nothing much has changed except for a few newly built shopping complexes and renovated cinema halls. Jiji (my soul mate at office) also came along to attend the wedding. You can always spot us together at office. In fact one of our Managers calls us the Siamese twins :). If in case anyone spots us alone outside our work station, one can be sure that the missing person is out of office. We often take long coffee breaks and we’ll have so much to discuss every other day. More about Jiji later. Now back to the Karur episode.

My aunt was more than happy to receive us to her place. The moment I stepped into her house, all the beautiful memories of my previous holidays came flashing in front of me. The snake & ladder-Lock & Key-Raja/Rani games, the little fights with my cousins, the moon light dinners that we had, eavesdropping to all the late night gossips that my mom, aunt and grandma had, all the little gifts that my aunt gives me every time I went there, and so on. I suddenly missed all those happy times. Life was much happier and less complex back then. I don’t get my annual holidays now; never get the time to spend time with cousins who are not in my city. But yes, that’s how life is. And it has to go on. Occasions like this make me relive those days.

After our unwinding session, Jiji and I started discussing our work and about the people we work with. Given a pair of ears, Jiji will go on and on about anything she starts talking. And my aunt was so interested to hear all this, for nobody ever has discussed with her about issues with office colleagues and the pathetic politics at work place. It was already late for bed by the time Jiji and I completed session. The wedding next day was at 5.00 AM at a temple located 16 Kms from Karur. So we had to be ready by 4:00 AM, for which we had to wake up by 3:00 AM. And we got ready as planned and reached the temple well in time for the Muhurtham. After the Muhurtham, the reception went on till 12:00 PM. By 1:00 PM we reached home.

Both of us were so tired, that if allowed we would have slept the whole day. But we had to leave to Salem to catch our train to Chennai. Before leaving we had another chit chat session with aunt and then finally said good-bye to them and headed to the bus stand.

There was some festival in a town nearby and hence every other bus that left and arrived was fully loaded and people rushed to get a seat when a bus comes to the stand. Jiji and I hesitated to rush through the crowd to get us both a place to sit, but we dint want to go standing either, as both of us were dead tired. We missed around four buses waiting like this. There came another bus and the people rushed through again. This time we dint want to miss this bus and hence Jiji tried her best to get into it. But couldn’t manage to. The bus conductor watched us struggling to make it through the crowd. An elderly woman, who looked like a daily-wage labour, managed to get into the bus and sat on a two-seater. I could see how happy she was to, finally, get a place to sit. And when she was just about to sit, the conductor shooed her off and offered those seats to us. A surge of guilt brushed me as we sat there. The lady seemed very disappointed and she cursed her own fate and sat on the bus engine and contented herself.

On the one hand, I was so happy about this weekend trip to Karur as I had a chance to meet my aunt and cousins after a long time. And on the other hand this whole bus episode made me feel bad about people like that lady who gave us her seat, who couldn’t speak up for their own rights and they accept it to be their fate. I wonder how many such women are still unaware of their rights in the society. The worst part is that I became a reason for their ill fated day. And I still have a sense of guilt and shame for this.

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

I was never a person who was interested or too keen in political ceremonies. Be it national or international. But yesterday, believe me; I was waiting in front of my television to watch the live telecast of the inaugural ceremony of the America’s next president. The sole reason behind this was the man of the show. Barack Hussein Obama. There was something magical, something impressive and something attractive in his personality that I failed to notice in the Ex presidents Mr. Clinton and Mr. Bush of America. I admired his determination and guts to become the President of the super power nation, being an African American himself. He picked himself up and dusted off the racial discrimination and fought himself a good fight. I really wanted him to win this president election which was looked up so keenly from all over the world. And Yes, He did… Hurray!!!!

Finally Barack Obama is sworn in as the 44th President of the United States of America and the First ever African American President. This is definitely a revolution!!! A black American taking the highest position of a white nation was definitely something the world wouldn’t have dreamt of. Or At least I dint. It’s a remarkable transition, an end to racism, a new laid path to the communal integrity of the world. It’s a fundamental turning point in history...He has now become a world icon!!!

It was definitely a time of honor for Obama, a time of hope for its wards, a time of come back for all those who fell back due to racism.

He took his oath on the same bible that was used by Lincoln when he became the president in 1861. This is considered as the most sacred oath the country.

Thousands of thousands of people were present to see the inauguration. Some were singing, dancing, happily waving, and some were even crying of joy. I saw a genuine smile in each one of their faces. They were there to witness another page of America’s history. That probably was the most cheerful crowd America has ever seen. The response the crowd gave for Obama’s first speech as a president showed the amount of hope and confidence they had in him.

He is indeed a great inspirational speaker. And in his speech, Obama mentioned all the challenges that America was about to face and his plans to face them. He asked America to prepare for the tough time that is nearing. For those of you who missed it, here are some lines from his first speech.

Our nation is at war and economy hardly weakened.

The challenges we face are real but they will be met.

America is bigger than the sum of our individual aspirations.

Our spirit is stronger and no one can outlast us.

Time has come to set aside our childishness.

A country cannot prosper if it only supports the prosperous.

Our economy calls us for actions, bold and swift.

We must begin the task of remaking America.

We will begin to responsibly leave Iraq to its people

America is a friend of all nations and we are ready to lead once more.

America must play its role to make a new era of peace...

He also thanked, Ex-President, Bush for his service to the nation and smooth transition of Power. Obama has taken this position when America really needs a good leader to reshape their current situation.

His candidature is definitely not like the ones that India has witnessed, which sometimes not even lasted for 100 days. It’s definitely some serious business. He has quite a number of pending tasks, waiting in his desk which includes the war the country faces at Afghan and Iraq, the shutting down of the Guantanamo bay, a solution for the climate change and so on. His first and foremost will obviously be to fix the economic crisis that the nation is facing.

The economic crisis America faced, has definitely affected all the other industries tremendously all over the world. It’s not just the banking & financial sector or the Automobile industry or the IT industry that has taken the toll, but the others too.

He had beautifully expressed his need of every individual's co-operation. His first speech was full of opportunity, optimism, confidence and hope over fear. All these challenges will definitely not be met in a short span of time, as he mentioned clearly in his speech.

We’ll have to wait for some more time to see him in action.

So here’s wishing him all the very best for his new position and his serious challenges to be met…!!!

But wait a minute… Will there ever be a day when an Indian becomes the president of America….? Who knows!!! May be our children’s children will witness that….!!!! :D

Sunday, January 11, 2009

Yet another new year has jus bloomed…. 2008 has been an eventful year for me…. It was a nice mixed package indeed…. Lotsa good times, bad ones too…. The beginning of a new year always gives me a good deal of hope and anxiety… Yesterday I was jus rewinding the whole last year…. And lot of things kept flashing to my mind… And they were all memories which I never want to forget in my life….. I wanted to record them somewhere….. There were so many instances when I wanted to throw my ideas to the junta, but never dared to do so…. Such a silent soul I am, or I shd say I was…. Will not be anymore…. Blogging was the immediate option that came to my mind…. And that’s the reason I’m here posting my first blog…. About me….

I-Me-Myself

I did my schooling in some six schools and finally ended up completing it in Vana Vani Matric Hr Sec School, IIT campus, Chennai. I graduated from the College Of Engineering, Guindy. (Oh yes!!!... I did). I spent my most cheerful four years of my life in this college …. Life was indeed beautiful with friends around you all the time…. Friends were my everything, throughout my college life… they still are… but definitely the count has increased after college life…. Those were the days I learnt to be independent….

I am now working in a software company. I’m not quite sure if I really like my work…But I can definitely say software is not my cup of tea… I’m not going into more details on my work right now... May be some other time… So that’s that with my education n profession…

I like making new friends…Friends are the ones who keep me going most of the times….I’m blessed to have such a lovely bunch of them… Meeting old friends is something I’ve always liked to do…

On the other hand I like to be alone sometimes… someone rightly said, there is no better companion like solitude…

I love playing with colors and blue is my favorite!!!...I guess it was my fifth semester in college when I was so crazy about this color that my wardrobe was filled with blue salwars... Thank the almighty for his creative eye… Colors do refresh me when I’m down… I scribble my name on and on at such times and keep asking me why I should be depressed for petty issues when they are not even worth cribbing for….

My mom is my biggest support system…. She was always there with those nice consoling words…I admire her for her internal fortitude….

My mood swing was never constant….It was always been like the huge tides on a no-moon day….

And I as a person have changed so much from time to time…. When people see me after a long time will definitely figure it out…

My weakness, I think, is taking things for granted and I am really sensitive… trust me… I can’t bare people complaining about me…

One greatest strength that I think I posses is that whenever I am down I bounce back in no time… In a way my strength and weakness complement each other!!!! (don’t they ???)

I’m scared of dogs…… Even a cute lil puppy scares me to death…. I’ll just parry off when they in my vicinity.

I like travelling with friends…. And I just can’t keep my mouth closed (you don’t have to ask me to say cheese…. J ) when someone stands in front of me with a camera…..